This has got to be the worlds greatest family sport. We visited 7 of our grandkids in Kansas city for the holidays , age 3-15. We took them on their first geocaching adventure. They all liked this more than Christmas day. Imagine , 7 munchinks cacscading from the van , gps in hand, dashing for the cache. Each helped the other, and even Monica , our three yo found one..with a tiny modicum of help . Nicholas and Thomas have the eyes of eagles . I carried a back pack filled with trade items . I was amazed at their selections ; it teaches you a lot . All the kids shared in and were thrilled with our adventure. I found an indian buffalo skinning knife in pristine condition. It looks a great deal like an inuet awl and is amazingly sharp . I had seen only one of these knives previously at a display in Montana . The kids were unimpressed but loved the trinkets in the caches. What made this REALLY special ? We were to leave on Tuesday . Monday night , while declaring our intentions before saying the rosary together , Thomas prayed '' dear God , let there be a snowstorm tonight so Poppy cant leave ''. We stayed until Thursday .

01-06-2005, 01:56 PM

BACKPACKNJACK

Great story GK38 and I agree 100%.

What other sport do we have where high and low tech can meet to get the kids away from the Nintendo, dad off the lawnmower, granddad off the golf course, grandma out of the garden, mom out of...etc., put them outside, in the same place, regardless of their physical or mental nimbleness or lack there-of, and all enjoy.

Grandpa with his cane,...grandkids with hot cocoa and TBs in their backpacks,...Fido with his tail wagging,...all on a treasure hunt,...exploring the great outdoors. Now if that ain't a Norman Rockwell painting I'll pay for lying.

Every time my cousin and I pass a really nice view or spot in Arkansas his daughter will look at me and say "I bet there is a cache around here" and I say "I bet there is too or there soon will be if it is allowed". I'm beginning to think her first car may end up being a "cache-mobile".

Also, 'Congratulations' on your extraordinary find. I guess(I'm assuming here) that that also was one of those inappropriate sharp items left in a cache and if you will forgive me another assumption, the exchanges were watched over by a caring adult and all returned to the cache-mobile safe and happy. Good show!

01-06-2005, 08:26 PM

Clark~Griswold

Two great posts in a row!!!

I know a lot of parents have a hard time connecting with their the teen age kids. I don't know what we would do to connect with Rusty (15) and Audrey (12) if it wasn't for geocaching. There are not many things that 40 somethings and teens both like and are equally good at. We also enjoy hiding them as a team as much as we enjoy finding them.

01-07-2005, 09:19 AM

Gaddiel

The fact that geocaching is appealing to all age ranges is such a selling point. I was surprised to discover this when we first started meeting geocachers face-to-face. It's great fun for kids, a challenging game for middle-agers, and an excellent activity for seasoned citizens. Plus, it's relatively inexpensive to get started and appeals to techno-geeks and outdoors-types equally. In short, it the PERFECT HOBBY!

Wayne

01-09-2005, 12:46 PM

grandkid44

The skinning knife was found near a stream bed in the Western section of my daughters ranch . Many Indian relics have been recovered in this area . This is on the Eastern border of the great Kansas plain ; an arroyo perfect for an encampment. I was actively searching for relics when spotting the knife. It is still sharp enough for me to use in my kitchen...but has been donated to a museum in KC . The monetry value of such a find is extrodinary , the value to my grandkids presenting it to the museum is priceless .

01-10-2005, 04:40 PM

BACKPACKNJACK

GK38
Thanks for, "The Rest of The Story".
We (as geocachers) are not only picking up trash :) and removing ticks from the woods 8O , we are recovering satellites and lost artifacts. How can the world NOT love us? :lol: